Slate Daily Feed

Where was Congress while the president threatened that “a whole civilization will die tonight”?  Guest:  Senator Mark Warner , U.S. Senator from Virginia, top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Pod...

Hosts Alex Kirshner , Lindsay Gibbs , and Ben Lindbergh recap a chalky March Madness marked by coaching drama and uncertainty about college basketball’s future. Then Alex and Lindsay ask Ben about the early MLB season, from the Automated Ball-Strike challenge system to a new wave of impressive rookies. Finally, the panel speaks with author and soccer journalist Ryan O'Hanlon about the real story b...

When Doree Shafrir started fertility treatments in her late thirties, she thought it would be relatively simple. It ended up taking multiple rounds and sinking her family into debt.  Doree and her husband host the podcast Matt and Doree's Eggcellent Adventure: An IVF Journey . She also co-hosts Forever 35 , and writes the work advice column for Slate, Good Job .  Death, Sex & Money i...

Last week, the Army’s Chief of Staff, General Randy George, joined a long and growing list of high-level military officers who have been fired, forced out, or otherwise induced to leave their positions during the second Trump administration. What does that mean for the war in Iran? Guest: Idrees Ali , national security correspondent at Reuters. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to acces...

American Catholicism finds itself at a crossroads—split between its prominent conservative representatives in the Trump administration and in the priesthood, and the more inclusive, social justice-oriented messaging of the American pope.  Guest: Colleen Dulle , Vatican correspondent for America Media, co-host of “ Inside the Vatican ” podcast, and author of “Struck Down, Not Destroyed.” Want...

On this episode: Lucy Lopez , Elizabeth Newcamp , and Zak Rosen discuss AI’s creep into education. Specifically, the latest news surrounding AI replacing teachers. Including: a school in Chicago announcing teacher-free learning starting this fall and first lady Melania Trump laying out a vision to have a “humanoid educator” in classrooms.  They also answer a question about adding a dog to the...

One of artificial intelligence’s most hyped “abilities” is how it writes computer code. So much so that seemingly anyone can do it. So we figured… why not us?  Guests:  Greg Lavalee, Slate’s Chief Technology Officer. Clive Thompson, contributing writer for the New York Times Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and all...

This week: OpenAI completed a $122 billion investment round. Felix Salmon , Elizabeth Spiers , and Emily Peck discuss what this deal says about the private and public markets and try to wrap their heads around the astronomical valuations of OpenAI and SpaceX.  Then, Maryland-based spice company, McCormick, announced it will merge with Unilever’s food division to create a new spice and sauce m...

On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by writer and content creator Josh Lora, who goes by TellTheBees on Substack , TikTok , Instagram and YouTube . After yet another meaningless Chappell Roan controversy , this time involving a young fan and a security guard, Kate and Josh look into why Chappell Roan is always such a lightning rod for discourse. What seems like celebrity gossip ends up...

It was a rough week for two of the top lawyers in the Trump administration, and it couldn’t happen to a nicer pair ... Ever since Donald Trump’s return to office and the installation of his (second choice) Attorney General, we’ve been tracking the toxic combination of incompetence and cruelty at the Department of Justice. Pam Bondi, Trump’s hand-picked attack dog for Attorney General, finally reac...

In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, private credit or “shadow banking” grew as an alternative to the regulations and shared risk that institutional banks operate within. What happens if a crisis hits the trillions of dollars that are outside of those guardrails? We may be about to find out.  Guest: Tracy Alloway , co-host of Bloomberg's Odd Lots podcast. Want more What Next TBD? Subscri...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss yesterday's oral arguments in the monumentally important birthright citizenship case at the Supreme Court, Trump's primetime attempt to convince Americans that both their wallets and the Iran war are just fine, and strategy versus vibes in key Senate races in Maine and Texas. For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, an...

Even with Trump in attendance, it didn’t look like the Supreme Court was buying his administration’s attack on the 14th amendment and birthright citizenship. But how the justices decide the case could leave the door open for another, savvier attempt to overturn birthright citizenship in the future. Guest: Jamelle Bouie , opinion columnist at The New York Times.  Want more What Next? Subscribe...

On this episode: Lucy Lopez , Elizabeth Newcamp , and Zak Rosen share their triumphant week, which included smashed shells, sleep-over bravery, and an impromptu sex-ed explainer. They also answer a question about visiting a grandparent who is experiencing Alzheimer's.  Podcast production by Cheyna Roth and Rosemary Belson. Video production by Micah Phillips.  Follow us on YouTube ! ...

This bonus episode of Amicus, with full access exclusive for Slate Plus members, is a comprehensive exploration of Wednesday’s arguments in the Trump v. Barbara case on birthright citizenship. This landmark case challenges the executive order aimed at denying citizenship to children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants and temporary visa holders, potentially affecting millions of individual...

On this week’s show, Dana is joined by Slate’s own Nadira Goffe and Richard Lawson, of the Critical Darlings podcast. Their first agenda item is Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat , the second installment of the workplace comedy/reality show hybrid which places an unknowing everyman in a made-up scenario populated entirely by actors. Does the second season deliver a heart-warming moral test in th...

The Iran war’s disruption to global oil supplies demonstrates another upside to switching to renewable energy sources. Instead, Europe is considering rolling back carbon regulations. Guest:  Catherine Rampell , economics editor at The Bulwark and anchor at MS NOW. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorit...

On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Defector co-owner Alex Sujong Laughlin, whose recent piece about “ lip filler accent ” identified a new way TikTok is changing how we speak. Even people who don’t have any plastic surgery at all appear to be picking up on the trend, because when it comes to status, sounding like someone who has had plastic surgery is really all that matters. ...

Hosts Lindsay Gibbs and Ben Lindbergh discuss the maddest moment of March—from the UConn buzzer beater, to Women’s Final Four redux. Alex Kirshner rejoins for two interviews: the first with author and professor Seth Tannenbaum about the growing class divide inside baseball stadiums, the subject of his new book, Bleacher Seats and Luxury Suites: Democracy and Division at the Twentieth-Century Ballp...

In this Money Talks: Journalist Bridget Armstrong joins Emily Peck to discuss this moment of reckoning for the iconic reality show America’s Next Top Model and what she learned in reporting for her podcast Curse of: America’s Next Top Model . They explore how Top Model ’s central promise — a fast track to a career in the fashion industry — was ultimately an illusion used to make great television a...

A flurry of activity in the oil-futures market, minutes before Donald Trump made a big announcement about not striking at Iranian infrastructure, has all the appearance of someone using classified national security information to turn a profit.  Guest:  Paul Krugman, Nobel-Prize winning economist and author of paulkrugman.substack.com . Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to acc...

A listener we're calling Natalie received over a million dollars after being sexually abused by her university gynecologist in one of the largest abuse settlements in American history. She talks about the strange math of converting a bad experience into a dollar amount, and why she’s barely spent any of it.  *This episode includes descriptions of abuse. Please take care while listening. ...

OpenAI is shutting down its video generator Sora less than six months after it launched, and just three months since it signed a deal with Disney. Is this an A.I. company fine tuning its offerings, or the long-awaited popping of the A.I. bubble? Guest: Jason Koebler , cofounder of 404 Media. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and...

On this episode: Elizabeth Newcamp sits down with Blair Imani , educator, historian, and content creator known for her ‘ Smarter In Seconds ’ series. She’s also the co-host of the podcast, Thoughts About Feelings , and the author of three books. Her latest is called Read This to Get Smarter . Blair walks Elizabeth through how to stay informed as a busy parent and break down complicated concepts to...

Artificial intelligence is working its way into every aspect of our lives, including law and immigration enforcement, and the industry is spending millions of dollars to ensure it can continue to do so unregulated. But as evidence of bias appears in this nascent tech, this congresswoman wants to ensure we’re not just recreating our historical biases and problems all over again—which is to say, she...